Need some help w/ flow, Im losing stuff

[latazyo]

Alright, I am losing SPS frags like crazy and its frustrating

I dont have bugs or anything like that

tank specs:
lighting : 1x175 MH Iwasaki 15000K w/ PFO parallel, icecap e-ballast
filtration : 75# LR, 70# LS, Euroreef RS5-3 skimmer, phosban reactor w/ DFS phosgard + carbon + zeolite
flow : main pump is mag 9.5 split b/w tanks w/ 2 x 1/2" output in main display, seio m620
water quality :
pH - 8.2
ammonia - 0
nitrites - 0
nitrates - 0/undetectable
phosphates - 0/undetectable
alk - 2.5 meq/L = 7 dkh
calcium - 450
temp - 80 +/- 2

looks like the alk is a little low, but not much...I have tested this water and had it tested at planet reef to confirm and its good water

my theory is that my flow is insufficient/not being done correctly

I support this theory w/ good water tests and the fact that everything else in the tank is thriving, especially the anemones (GBTA and mini carpet)....my LPS and zoos and ricordea are all thriving and growing/spreading....fish all look great

here is a graphic...I am planning on adding 1-2 more seios (because I already have them...I also have an MJ1200 mod I could put somewhere) to the display tank to get the flow kicked up

the red shows my existing setup and the blue squares are potential new areas for the new seios....the reason I dont have one in the back right corner is because of those two anemones, I can't really think of a way to orient the pump such that it doesnt blast the anemones

so does anyone have any recommendations about how to arrange my flow? regardless if this is the reason for the sps demise or not, I still need to improve the flow because right now I have dead spots everywhere

 

[chadfarmer]

alk - 2.5 meq/L = 7 dkh

when mine was that low I was loosing acros from my past experience

 

[geoxman]

I have never lost an acro! Your flow diagram looks good-but I know nothing about SPS?? I am running about 3500gph in my softie tank. good luck

 

[latazyo]

geo are you saying the existing (red) setup is good or that adding the blues will be good?

 

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

I would turn the orange ones towards the sides so they bounce and move the water towards the center of the tank and point the new ones at the overflow from the corners

 

[geoxman]

that might irritate the nem and the LPS if it shot outward. If you need a little more flow I can trade you an 820 or 1500 for the 620. JLMK
PL

 

[Shooter7]

Agree with Mr. Farmer on the dKh, particularly if you had it higher than that before and now it's running lower.

Also, what's your Mg level. I had problems with my SPS in the past and came to find out my Mg was in the 900's. After boosting it back up, things started looking good again.

 

[latazyo]

thanks for the suggestions...that's a good idea with the flow direction

the problem with my pic is that its only 2d...I can try to put the locline as you described DST, as it may be high enough above the nems to not bother them...we'll find out, I guess

geo - thanks a lot, I'll let you know if I need that after I tinker around with them a little more...I appreciate it

oh yeah...here is a FTS and some pics of the problems Im having...with this much algae and excellent water testing, it has to be flow related doesnt it? Im only running my lights 8hrs/day and no natural sunlight hits this tank

FTS

former blue tort (sorry chad and clark)

notice how its turning white around the base? this will be dead within 5 days if it follows the pattern

Dave - I do not have a Mg test so I can't tell you the levels...does anyone know if any of the LFS will do a Mg test?

I just want to say that I really appreciate the responses you all are giving me

 

[Shooter7]

You should definitely get a Mg test if you're planning on balancing your Ca and alk levels and keeping everything happy.

With that much algae it's got to be feeding off of something, you must have PO4 levels in there to keep it going like that. That algae looks a lot like the astroturf looking algae I battled back the end of last year and beginning of this year. It took months of stable tank chemistry, light feeding (switched to homemade frozen food from flakes), added a phos reactor with PHOSaR, and regular water changes every few weeks. It's all gone now and staying gone since I've added my Ca reactor to help keep things stable and a couple tunze 6060's I bought used. I forget what size your tank is, but I run roughly 33x flow in my 120 and things seem to stay happy right now.

 

[latazyo]

thanks shooter

right now Im running the phos reactor w/ DFS phospure + carbon + zeolite stuff

my display is a 40g but ive got around 70g of water total

I figure Im getting around 700gph from the mag after all the plumbing and the split

so after adding the seios I should be well above 30x in the display...hoepfully that helps

is it ok to up the phospure media? could anything bad happen by hitting it with double dose of phospure (phosban)?

 

[Reggae Fish]

Something is masking your actual parameters. There is definately phosphates.
What kind of water are you using? Photoperiod?

Also, as far as losing that other, most likely it's been on its way out for awhile and probably won't make it.

 

[latazyo]

yeah, I figure that Im getting test results of 0 pohsphates because the algae is consuming it all

I use RODI that is 0ppm, I just checked it tonight

my photoperiod is 8 hours 11a-7p and no natural sunlight hits the tank

my plan for action is:

1. pull some algae out by hand
2. get a Mg kit
3. water change, check alk again
4. fix flow problem (when magnets come in later this week)
5. wait and see what happens
6. if there's still a bunch of algae I guess I can say its probably the trigger and I'll have to let him go

 

[Nanook]

Large water changes to get rid of excess nutrients is easiest step in my opinion and often overlooked as we try to chemically tweak the water with additives and whatnot....I would also consider adding a fuge to uptake phosphates and add some more biological diversity to the tank....more natural es mas better

Just my .07

 

[latazyo]

what type of biological diversity

 

[scbadiver]

I think I'm with Nook on this one. I'd do some water changing and step up the flow before I did too much of anything else. If you keep the water right, the tank will "fix" itself. Back to basics sir. I think a fuge would be helpful too.

 

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

What type of zeolite are you using ?

As for Alk I keep mine at 7 or 7.5 and have for a couple years the only problem is you have to keep a eye on it at that level you really don't want to get any lower .

I would go to belts and buy a couple mexican turbo snails .They will clean that tank up in about a week .

I was fighting the dreaded red turf algea a couple months back and those snails wiped it out in about a week.

John

 

[latazyo]

this is the product I use, it has all three in one product
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...hallpartial&Ntk=All&pc=1&N=0&Ntt=phospur&Np=1

I am going to try some snails (they're cheap so I guess if the trigger eats them all right away I wont be out that much)

is beldts having a sale on turbos or something?

the center chamber of my sump is full of live rock and chaeto, so Im gonna take some of the rock out (or move it) so the chaeto has more room to grow and get more water flow

the fuge light is a spiral PC run 24/7

 

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

I am going to try some snails (they're cheap so I guess if the trigger eats them all right away I wont be out that much)

is beldts having a sale on turbos or something? I don't know, its the only place I was able to find good size Mexican turbo snails



the fuge light is a spiral PC run 24/7 [/B][/QUOTE] You may want to have the fuge light on when the tank lights are off and off when tank lights are on . But everyone is different on this subject .

 

[Shooter7]

When I had my short turf-like green algae, my turbo didn't touch the stuff. I got a sea hare....he ate about a 2x2 inch area of it, then I never saw him again.

 

[latazyo]

yeah we'll see what happens...already bought them anyways

thanks John, I have had it like that before but prefer to just leave it on 24/7 because my light is not that good and we're only dealing with a ball of chaeto the size of a cantaloupe